IEEE 1394 is an electronics standard for connecting devices to other devices or to a microprocessor of a computer. A network or a bus that complies with the IEEE 1394 standard is referred to as an “IEEE 1394 network” or an “IEEE 1394 bus.” An IEEE 1394 bus may accommodate up to 63 devices with data transfer speeds of up to 3.2 Gigabits per second. The flexibility and large bandwidth of an IEEE 1394 bus makes the IEEE 1394 bus ideal for consumer electronics and multimedia applications. Two well-known implementations of IEEE 1394 are trademarked as APPLE's FIREWIRE and SONY's i-LINK.
Command and control applications, such as drive-by-wire, may benefit from an IEEE 1394 bus's flexibility and capabilities. Drive-by-wire refers to a method of controlling components of an automobile using a computer rather than a mechanical linkage. Implementing an IEEE 1394 bus in command and control applications has been challenging. For example, whereas command and control applications generally require the control network to start up within approximately 100 microseconds, an IEEE 1394 bus generally requires approximately 500 milliseconds to start up. Such a relatively long start up time may compromise the performance of the controlled device in a command and control application. For example, if a control network of an electronically-modulated braking system of an automobile had a relatively long start up time, the time delay between when an operator steps on the brake pedal and when the brakes are actually applied may be too long and result in an accident.